WIZZ (1520 AM) is a radio station licensed to Greenfield, Massachusetts. It is owned by Saga Communications and operates as part of its Western Mass Radio Group. It broadcasts an oldies radio format, switching to Christmas music in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

By day, WIZZ is powered at 1,000 watts. As 1520 AM is a clear channel frequency, WIZZ reduces power at night to 160 watts to protect other stations from interference. Programming is also heard on FM translator W263DE at 100.5 MHz in Greenfield.

History

The station signed on the air on August 26, 1980.[3] The original call sign was WPOE, standing for Poet's Seat Broadcasting. It had a middle of the road (MOR) format. In its early years, the station was a daytimer, required to go off the air at night.[4] In 1987, the call letters changed to WGAM, with a format of big band music and adult standards.

The station was assigned the WIZZ call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on February 1, 2003.[1] WIZZ previously aired a locally programmed adult standards format.[5] It carried the national AP Radio newscast on the hour and half-hour. The station verified signal reports by QSL card. At the top of the hour, WIZZ used the same "V for Victory" time tone as WTIC in Hartford.

WIZZ's former owner and disc jockey, Phil D (Phillip Drumheller), was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010, and was active in broadcasting for 60 years. He was the first inductee into the MBHOF to have had his career outside the Boston radio market.[6]

On April 6, 2022, Saga Communications acquired WIZZ and flipped it from adult standards to oldies. Programming is simulcast on the HD3 digital subchannel of 99.3 WLZX-FM in Northampton.[7] It is also heard on an FM translator at 100.5 MHz.

Translator

Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
W263DE 100.5 FM Greenfield, Massachusetts 201279 250 D 42°35′20″N 72°37′3.7″W / 42.58889°N 72.617694°W / 42.58889; -72.617694 (W263DE) LMS

References

  1. ^ a b "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WIZZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ Youtube silent film of WPOE signing on the air on August 26, 1980. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1984 page B-122. Retrieved Dec. 14, 2024.
  5. ^ "About WIZZ".
  6. ^ "Phillip G. Drumheller". Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
  7. ^ "WIZZ Joins Pure Oldies Simulcast". RadioInsight. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIZZ
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